A NEW cycle lane has been branded “insane” and a “death trap” after three cyclists came off their bikes within five minutes.

Two people were taken to hospital after they fell off their bikes at the new Vogue Gyratory cycle lane in Lewes Road, Brighton, yesterday morning.

The three cyclists said part of the cycle lane, which only opened this week as part of a £600,000 revamp of the area, has a disguised kerb that caused them all to crash.

Simon Cooper, from Kemp Town, Brighton, was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital for stitches to a deep elbow wound after he came off at about 8am.

Mr Cooper, who was cycling to work at the University of Sussex, said: “The cycle lane is raised above the road and the kerb is impossible to see.

“I was left shocked and needed stitches to a deep wound in my elbow.

“I went to hospital and had to take the day off.”

A few minutes earlier, Rick McEwen, 37, from Brighton, also came off his bike.

He said: “There’s a little kerb which you can’t see and I went right into it. I flipped over my handlebars and on to my side.

“I was getting myself together after the crash when I saw Simon come round the corner and do exactly the same thing.

“He had a really nasty injury to his elbow and was quite shocked. A few minutes later a woman came round the corner and also came off.

“There should be something identifying the kerb. It doesn’t need to be there. It’s a death trap. I wonder how many others have crashed?”

Sian Evans, 37, from Brighton, was the third cyclist to come off her bicycle.

She suffered grazing to her chin, hands, knee and shoulder and was taken to hospital for treatment.

She said: “It’s the first time I’ve fallen off a bike in ten years.

“You can’t see the kerb at all, it’s half-raised and not the full height.

“My bike is fine and I’m ultimately fine. That part of the turn in the road is terrifying as it is, but that new kerb is just insane.”

Brighton and Hove City Council said: “We have been made aware of the cycle lane incidents and are investigating them to make sure the temporary safety measures that are in place there are appropriate.

“We cannot comment in detail about the incidents themselves until we have seen the police reports.”

A spokesman from the South East Coast Ambulance Service confirmed that paramedics attended an incident involving cyclists in Lewes Road yesterday morning.